Since its entry into China in 1993, Aurora, an electronics and office supplies retail giant, has established itself in over 500 locations in the Chinese market, in addition to employing a full force of product service and sales personnel.

The company stated that it was chosen by Stratasys to act as its sole distributor in China due to its considerable retail coverage.

Aurora is poised to distribute Stratasys’s Idea line of 3D printers, consisting of the entry-level Mojo, and the larger uPrint SE and uPrint SE Plus variants. The Idea line of 3D printers currently ranges from US$10,000 to US$20,000 in the U.S. market.

Propelled by encouraging prospects, shares of Aurora yesterday rocketed to NT$62.1, gaining NT$4, or 7 percent, the maximum intraday movement allowed in the Taiwan Stock Exchange, while retaining its soaring performance at the end of yesterday’s trading.

Luo Jun, CEO of the Asian Manufacturing Association (AMA) and executive secretary-general of the China 3D Printing Technology Industry Alliance, told the Global Times ”Over the past 30 years, 3D printing technology has already been applied in the aerospace, automotive and biomedical industries, and now the conditions are ripe for it to scale up.”

Although 3D printing can create complex designs, it cannot compete today with the cost efficiences of traditional manufacturing. The innovation centers are therefore looking to develop complementary manufacturing processes.

The alliance will build 10 innovation centers at a cost of 20 million yuan ($3.3 million) for each.

“China can consider developing an industry-led strategic transformation plan to focus on technological innovation and differentiation. It can enact policies that bring in capital and technology-­intensive industries from developed countries and it should work on improving how to utilize innovations imported from other countries,” Ricky Tung, co-leader of the Manufacturing Industry Group at auditing and consulting firm Deloitte China, told the Global Times. ”Going forward, (China) should continue to improve incentive mechanisms to cultivate technical leaders and promote deeper cooperation between enterprises and academic institutions,” said Tung.

Looking for some impressive examples of 3D printing? Check out Shapeways’ Friday Finds, a curated collection of designs from the Shapeways community. Above picture is a Seed of Yggdrasil by by Read More »